Persona: Realm of Dreams
by Acallaris
Summary: Several months have passed since the Trickster accepted the False God's deal, and the world hasn't been the same since. In Kyoto, a new phenomenon similar to the mental shutdowns seems to be affecting those who wish to think for themselves again. While the Phantom Thieves continue their work in Tokyo, a new group heroes will rise up in Kyoto and take back their world.
1. Day 0

**(A/N: The first 4 chapters of this story are reuploads from an alternate account)**

"The Phantom Thieves will be praised and gain fame. The world will escape ruin as well." Said the False God. "What say you?"

The girl in blue knew very well that the Trickster would not accept the offer that was laid out right before him. She knew that the false God was afraid of him, and would do anything to win, just out of pure desperation. The Trickster that she-... no, that they had known all this time would never give in to the God's temptation.

"Very well then…"

… That thought was put to rest immediately upon hearing him utter those words. The girl's head snapped towards the Trickster, and stared at him in utter disbelief.

"Our contract has been sealed then." The False God chuckled.

"It's a good deal." The Trickster smiled, not a pure one of course, but one of malice.

"...A pact between a false god and a human we placed our hopes on. Even we could not have predicted this." The girl muttered. "You have undone my master's wish… You are a Trickster after all…"

"You are truly a child of man… It seems you couldn't win against your own desires." The God chuckled once again. "There is no need to be ashamed. I shall grant you that wish…"

The God proceeded to perform a spell, following his promise to the Trickster. The moment he performed the spell, the area briefly became clouded in darkness. Eventually, the room had returned to its former lighting. The only difference was that the Trickster had now disappeared.

"Now…" The false God turned to the girl in blue. "Onto more important matters…"

"You...You won't win Yaldabaoth." The girl said. "You may have manipulated one Trickster, but you will eventually repent for your sins when another Wild Card user arises."

"I am well aware that another Wild Card user will come to stop me in the future." Yaldabaoth responded. "However, whether they'll have the willpower and determination to stop me is a different story. Although there are many Wild Card users in this world, many have never completed their journeys."

"T-That is true, but-"

"Enough talk, child." Yaldabaoth started to make their way toward the girl. "Your usefulness has been long overdue. Thank you for being a such a viable asset to my guest's rehabilitation. Farewell…"

…

…

…

"Killing me was your first mistake of many."

* * *

 **20XX**

 _4/8_

 **Saturday**

 _ **Midnight**_

"Hey, kid. We're almost at the new place, wake up."

It was late in the evening, perhaps close to midnight. A large truck could be seen moving through a dark neighborhood. The truck's headlights were the only visible lights in the entire area.

"Geez, is this place in the middle of a blackout? We've picked a shit time to move in…" The man who was operating the moving truck sighed. "Hey, you still asleep? We're going to be at the new house in a couple minutes, you better wake up."

The man driving the truck looked up at the rearview mirror and started to smooth out his black hair, which was a bit messy from the car ride. This man had been traveling for a full 24 hours, but surprisingly, he didn't seem to be tired.

Before long, the truck came to a stop outside a house. The house didn't look to be in the greatest condition, but it seemed inhabitable just from looking at the exterior design.

"The front is different than I remember...Well, that can't be a bad thing, right?" The man driving asked himself. He proceeded to look back up at the rearview mirror and sighed. The man took up the travel mug that was resting in the cup holder beside him and threw it into the back of the truck.

There was a slight groan coming from behind the man. The man proceeded to turn off the engine for the truck and stepped out of the vehicle. Meanwhile, in the back of the truck, a boy who appeared to have white haired was sprawled out on a blanket fast asleep. After some time, the boy yawned and sat up.

"Uncle Kazuto, are we there yet…?" The white-haired boy asked.

"I've said it plenty times already, are you deaf for something?" The man now identified as the boy's uncle asked. "Yeah, we're here already. Get out of the back and come outside already."

The boy groaned some more and started to make his way out of the vehicle, he looked at himself in the rearview mirror. Unlike his uncle, he had messy hair which he didn't bother to fix, and apparently two different colored eyes. His left one being red, and the right one looked like it was olive green.

The white-haired boy jumped out of the truck and looked at his uncle, who had just put a pack of cigarettes away in his coat pocket. His Uncle looked at him and motioned him to follow him, the two made their way to the back of the truck.

"First things first, we're gonna have to carry that shut in's belongings before anything else." Kazuto sighed. "God knows that once she and Yui get here tomorrow, she's gonna lock herself in that room."

Kazuto took out a key and used it on the lock that was keeping the storage compartment of the truck shut. Once he unlocked it, he pushed it up until he was sure that his nephew would have enough space to enter.

"I'm going to go unlock the door, just start moving stuff out of the truck, alright?" Kazuto asked, in which his nephew nodded showing that he understood.

The white-haired boy climbed into the back of the truck and started with the boxes that he knew were a pain to deal with. Kazuto walked to the front door of the house and started looking for the key that was meant for the door. After a few minutes of searching, he found the right key and opened the door.

The house looked just as worn out on the inside as it was on the outside, although a little cleaning and painting would make everything look better. The house had 2 floors, 1 bathroom on each floor. There were four bedrooms in the house, one on the bottom floor, and three on the top.

"Even the inside is different from last time…" Kazuto said. "Those guys at the real estate office sure did SOME work…"

Kazuto turned around to check on his nephew and his progress, at that same moment, he witnessed the boy fall out of the storage compartment with a box in his arms. Kazuto sighed once again but started to chuckle to himself after.

* * *

"Alright, that's all her stuff I think, " Kazuto told the boy.

After an hour or so of moving a variety of objects, one of the rooms was filled to the brim with many different sized boxes and bins. The white-haired boy and Kazuto took a minute to admire their work before turning to each other and shaking their heads.

The two males exited the room, and the boy proceeded to close the door behind him.

"I'll deal with the more important stuff, the furniture can wait till the morning," Kazuto said to his nephew. "You get on over to your room and get some sleep. Tomorrow's going to be a real busy day for everyone."

The white-haired boy nodded showing that he understood what his uncle was telling him. Kazuto gave the boy a pat on the back before walking down the stairs and disappearing from his sight.

The boy entered a room at the very end of the hallway, this room had only a bed, a lamp that sat on top of an unopened box, and a couple of bins that were stuffed into a closet. The kid sat on the edge of the bed and stared down at his feet and closed his eyes.

"Finally…" The boy whispered.

After a minute or so, the boy raised his head and opened his eyes. The moment he did, however…

"Greetings…"

The boy came into contact with a girl who was much smaller than him. She had a bit of a gentle aura surrounding her. The most noticeable features about the girl were her glowing yellow eyes, her paler than normal skin tone, and her blue dress..

The two stared at each other for what seemed like minutes, and as time went on, the boy's urge to scream was getting harder and harder to control.

"Please do not scream, I'm not here to cause you any harm." The girl told the boy. "I'm only here to get… information about you."

"Information…?"

The small girl snapped her fingers and a tome that appeared to be floating appeared in between both her and the boy. The book proceeded to open and flip through dozens of pages, all of which had names written in them.

Finally, the pages had quit turning themselves and had stopped on a blank page. The boy looked at the tome in awe, as he was amazed by the display that took place right in front of him. The boy soon realized that there was a pen in his hand.

"Please sign your name." The girl asked the boy.

The boy stared at the girl again, he had a very confused look on his face this time. The girl was waiting patiently for the boy to make a move.

"What is this for...?"

"I can't disclose that information just yet…" The girl answered. "For now, please sign your name."

"But-"

"Just sign your name already!"

For a moment, the girl had lost all composure and shouted at the boy. He was taken aback by her response and didn't exactly know how to respond. The girl realized what she had said and bowed before the boy.

"My apologies…" She said apologetically.

Deciding not to risk angering her anymore, the boy did what the girl first asked him to do and signed his name with the pen. When he was done, he double checked to make sure that he spelled his name correctly. Once he was absolutely sure, the pen in his hand disappeared and the book turned to the girl.

"...Ayumu, Masa?" The girl asked. "Am I correct with the pronunciation?"

The boy nodded. The girl stared at the book for quite a bit, this filled his stomach with butterflies for some reason, but he wasn't exactly sure why. Finally, the suspense had left when the girl took the book, closed it, and tucked it under her arm.

"Thank you so much for cooperating." The girl thanked him. "I have confidence that you might be the one…"

"What are you talking about?"

In response to Masa's question, the girl walked over and stopped right in front of the white-haired boy. The girl took both of Masa's and hands and clasped them together, she then closed her eyes and started to hum what sounded like a lullaby. All Masa did was tilt his head in confusion as the girl did what she did.

"There will be a time when you finally realize your purpose in the world..." The girl in blue said. "And no matter what happens, always fight back, even if they're telling you not to..."

"I'm really confused." Masa was having a trouble finding meaning in the girl's words.

"The next time we meet, you will learn more about the situation at hand." The finally opened her eyes and looked at the boy. "But until that time comes, please try not to-"

The girl disappeared. Before she could finish saying what she had to say, she had vanished into thin air. Masa was now practically staring at the wall, no words to could describe how confused the boy really was.

"...I should really head to sleep…" The boy sat there for a few more minutes before saying. "These hallucinations have been getting weirder and weirder…"

The boy flopped onto his back and landed on his pillow. The uncomfortable silence of the night had made it a bit difficult for him to drift off to sleep. Eventually, sleep had started to overtake him as his eyelids were beginning to get heavy. Before he knew it, he had fallen asleep.

* * *

 _ **Chapter Started: January 27, 2018**_

 _ **Chapter Finished: August 7, 2018**_

 **Heyo! How's everyone doing today? I hope you liked the first chapter of Persona: Realm of Dreams.**

 **The Persona games have very lengthy and detailed stories, characters, and much more. Although my writing will never come close to the writing of the Persona games, I would certainly love to make an attempt.**

 **With that being said, I want to find ways to improve this story, whether it be the character development or the overall plot. So feel free to give me tips on how I can improve!**

 **The next chapter is already being written and may be longer than this one depending on how much free time I have. So stay tuned for what I have in store, and I'll see you all next time!**


	2. Day 1 (1 of 2)

" _...u… this isn't you!_ "

Voices…

" _I don't want to believe that you would ever want to do something like this…!"_

Unfamiliar voices…

At least… That's what I think.

* * *

 **20XX**

 _4/9_

 **Sunday**

 _ **Afternoon**_

"Masa, you've slept long enough!" A distant voice called out. "It's time to get up!"

The white-haired boy's eyes shot open the moment he had heard his name. He hadn't realized it, but the collar of the shirt he had worn to sleep was soaked in sweat.

Masa stared up at the ceiling of the room for a minute before sitting up and looking around. He glanced at all the boxes and bins that were scattered around the room and scratched the back of his head as if he were confused.

"... Oh, right!" The boy snapped his fingers. "This is my new room, duh!"

Masa chuckled as if he were somewhat embarrassed by his late realization. He noticed that the lamp that was sitting on top of the box right next to his bed had fallen over during the night. Luckily, nothing had shattered so all Masa had to do was pick it back up and place it on the box correctly.

"Kid, if you don't get down here in the next five minutes, I'm going to come up there and throw you out of the god damn window." Masa heard his Uncle's slightly muffled voice from behind the door.

"Okay, I'll be down in a bit!" Masa responded.

The boy got out of his bed and stretched while letting out a loud yawn. He noticed that there was a window that was being blocked by a few boxes. Masa went over and moved the boxes out of the way until he was able to unlock and open the dusty window.

The boy coughed a bit from the dust as he stuck his head out of the window. It was bright and sunny out and the atmosphere felt very light and welcoming; at least that's what Masa had thought. The white-haired boy could feel that this district would be relatively quiet, as well as welcoming.

"Hello, Nishizawa District. Even though it's only for a year, I hope we get along well." The boy acted as if the whole neighborhood was a living person and introduced himself. "Welp, it's time to seize the day!"

Masa pulled his head back in and closed the window. The boy then opened the door to his room and started making his way downstairs. As he was heading towards the stairs, he stopped walking and turned his attention to a closed door. This door had led to the room that Masa and his uncle were focusing on moving boxes into the night before.

Masa stepped towards the door, but he didn't open it. The boy put his ear up against the door and listened out for any sounds on the other side. Masa could hear slight shuffling, followed by heavy breathing. The boy had decided that he had heard enough and backed away from the door. He took one last look at it before going down the stairs.

As the boy walked down the stairs, the first thing he saw was a woman sitting at a table with a glass mug sitting in front of her. She appeared to be reading a newspaper and hadn't noticed him come down the stairs.

"Good morning, Aunt Yui." Masa greeted the woman.

"Hm?" The woman tore her attention off of her newspaper and looked at the boy. The moment she saw him, her stern expression turned into a smile. "Ah, Masa. You must've been pretty tired from that trip last night, considering that it's the middle of the afternoon."

"Huh?" Masa scratched the back of his head and dug his hands into both of his pockets in an attempt to pull something out, however, he soon realized both of his pockets were empty. "I must've left my phone inside the truck… Oh well."

"You know, most people would make a big deal out of misplacing their phone somewhere." Yui took a sip of the tea that was inside her mug. "Then again, you've always been so carefree. I shouldn't be surprised that you aren't making a big deal out of this."

Masa looked around and noticed that there were a lot more boxes in the room then there was the last time he was in there. He also noticed that his Uncle was nowhere to be seen.

"Kazuto is outside talking with something from the real estate agency, in case you were wondering," Yui told Masa as she put down her newspaper and tea and stood up. "He's going to be out there for a while, so you should go wash up while you still have the chance."

"Sure thing, lieutenant!" The white-haired boy saluted to Yui before going back upstairs. The only thing the woman did was sigh and shook her head.

* * *

Once Masa had finished up in the bathroom, he changed out of the clothes he wore to sleep and into something more casual. His outfit was simple, he wore a collared brown sweater with a pair of jeans and a black wristband.

Once Masa had changed his clothing, he went back downstairs and saw that along with his aunt, his uncle was now in the room. Kazuto was looking through a box but stopped when he saw his nephew come down the stairs.

"Looks like you're finally ready to get your day started… Even though it's almost 4:00." Kazuto closed the box he was looking through. "You're going to have to do something about that sleeping schedule of yours, it's not healthy."

"I didn't know you cared so much about health, Uncle Kazuto." Masa seemed genuinely surprised. "Are you sure you don't want to become a doctor instead of a real estate agent?"

"Considering that this man smokes whenever he gets the opportunity to, I don't think that would be the right profession for him." Yui butted in.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. I tell a kid to do something about his sleeping habits, and I'm already being burned at the stake." Kazuto sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Anyway, I'll be waiting outside in the car. I don't want to deal with traffic, so you'd better hurry up."

"...Wait…" Masa looked over at his Aunt, and then back at his Uncle and pointed to himself. "Are you talking to me?"

"No, I'm talking to the damn shut-in who lives on the second floor." Kazuto has sounded a bit more agitated than usual. "Of course I'm talking to you, did you forget that we have to meet with the principal at the school you're going to be attending?"

Masa furrowed his eyebrows and tilted his head slightly. Unbeknownst to the boy, his uncle was starting to get more and more frustrated, however, his aunt could see it just fine.

"Sweetheart, just go wait in the car. Masa will be out in a couple of minutes." Yui said to her husband. "I just need to speak with him regarding… you know who."

Kazuto shook his head without question or hesitation. He made his way to the door and stepped out of the house.

As soon as he left, a sudden look of realization had grown onto Masa's face. "Oh, that's right! I remember now!" Masa snapped his fingers and then looked around. "Wait, did Uncle Kaz leave without me?"

"No, he's just waiting for you in his car." Yui approached Masa. "Before you go, I just wanted to give you a update regarding **her**."

Although no names were said, Masa immediately knew who Yui was talking to. Yui took a deep breath. It was clear that her smile from earlier had vanished and she had returned to her former expression.

"... Although it wasn't for long, she's finally starting to talk to other people again." Masa's eyes widened upon hearing this. "For the short time we were in that car together, she was actually responding to some of the questions being asked to her. Sure, they were simple questions such as, "How are you" or "Are you hungry", but the fact that she's speaking to people aside from her psychiatrist is really something."

"Were you able to-"

"No."

Masa couldn't even finish his asking his question before Yui had interrupted him, although, it seemed as if she already knew what he was going to ask.

"Unfortunately, she's still wrapping herself in that blanket of hers." Yui crossed her arms. "I was kind of hoping that we'd be able to get at least a glimpse of her considering that we just moved, but… nothing."

"Oh…" Masa frowned and sighed. "I guess we'll just have to wait for another update from her psychiatrist then…"

"Hey, cheer up." Yui ruffled Masa's already messy hair. "She's talking, that's the biggest update we've gotten in the past year or so. Just give it some time, okay Masa?"

… Okay!" Masa's frown had been replaced with a smile.

"There we go, there's that smile I've been waiting to see again." Yui's smile had returned from before. "But that's all I've got to say, so you should get going. I think Kazuto might've calmed down too."

"Why did Uncle Kazuto have to calm down in the first place?" Masa asked.

"I've been married to that man for 7 years, and even I can't give you a proper answer to why he was the way he was." Yui sighed. "I guess it's one of his random unexplained moods."

* * *

Masa and Yui walked out of the house to see two vehicles, one of which was the truck Masa and his uncle were driving in the night before, while the other one was a gray sedan that Kazuto was sitting.

"We're going to run late, so hurry and get your ass in the car," Kazuto shouted out to his nephew as he and his aunt appeared in the doorway. "Yui, could you send me the grocery list? After the meeting, we'll stop by the grocery store."

"I don't really trust you when it comes to grocery shopping… Hell, I don't even think you trust yourself." Yui had a bit of a smug look on her face. "Remember what happened at that dinner party we held on culture day?"

"When we bought the produce, they seemed perfectly fine!" Kazuto shouted. "And it isn't my fault that half of the food we bought had already expired!"

"Sure, whatever you say, Mr. I didn't see the clearly visible expiration date." At this point, Yui was practically mocking her husband. "I'll send you the list as soon as I can."

"Thank you, that's all I asked." Kazuto looked to his left and hasn't even realized that Masa had gotten into the car. The boy had a bit of a goofy smile on his face and he was looking at his uncle. "What? Is there something on me?"

"No… Not all, Mr. I didn't see the clearly visible-"

"Shut the Hell up, kid. Remember whose driving this vehicle." The man growled at his nephew who went quiet but still retained the goofy smile on his face. "Anyway, we're off."

Yui waved the two as they drove off. The woman continued to wave until they were out of sight. Once they were completely gone from her sight, she took something out of her pocket and stared at it. As she did, her smile was slowly turning into a frown as the minutes passed by.

"I thought you loved each other…"

* * *

 **Chapter Started on: August 7, 2018**

 **Chapter Finished on: August 9, 2018**

 **To Kagaminelover657: Thank you so much! I'm glad that this story piqued your interest. At first, I was unsure if making a story that derived off of P5's Good Ending/False God Ending would be such a good idea, but seeing that I'm not the only one makes me glad! Even though I don't have much spare time on me, I'll be sure to check out your story whenever I can. It looks promising!**


	3. Day 1 (2 of 2)

**20XX**

4/9

 **Sunday**

 **Afternoon**

"Looks like we're finally here…" Kazuto turned off his car engine looked out the window. "Yeah, this is definitely the place."

Kazuto had parked his car outside what seemed to be a high school. The school consisted of two vertical buildings that seemed to represent the different wings that were apart of the school and one horizontal building that stood between both of the vertical buildings.

"You know, this school is almost exactly how I pictured it… at least design wise." Kazuto continued judging the school's exterior design. "If the staff here aren't a bunch of jackasses like the guys at your old school, then I don't think I'm going to have that big of a problem letting you go here."

Kazuto half expected some sort of response from his nephew on his comment about the school, but he wasn't surprised when all got was silence.

"Listen, kid… When it comes to your education, in particular, things have been really hard for you. I'm not going to say that's it your fault though." Kazuto started turning to Masa. "What I will say is that you should at least try your best to finish the year, after all, it is-..."

Once Kazuto fully turned to face Masa, the anger and frustration that was within him earlier had started to slowly make a return. The boy who was full of energy when he got into the car with his uncle, was now completely out cold. Masa was fast asleep and was leaning against the window while drooling.

"... I remember why I don't pour my heart out to other people." Kazuto placed his fingers on his temple and let out a loud sigh. "MASA!"

"Hairless kittens!" Masa had sprung to life and was now full of energy. The boy looked out his window and saw that the setting was different, and then looked at his uncle who didn't seem too pleased. "Oh… We're here already?"

"We've been on the road for an hour and a half, and you say, "We're here already?" Kazuto quoted his nephew. "Ugh, I don't think you're going to be having problems with the staff, they'll be having problems with you this time around."

"The staff will be having… what?" Masa tilted his head to show his way of being confused. "I don't get it, what's that supposed to mean?"

"Forget it." Kazuto took off his seatbelt and got out of his car. "Get out of the car, we're already running late."

* * *

When the two males entered the school, they noticed that there was a lack of people roaming the halls, however, they weren't surprised as it was a Sunday. The only people walking around were teachers, students who were most likely apart of some sort of club, and other members of the school's faculty.

One of the members of the staff noticed Masa and Kazuto at the entrance and lead them to the headmaster's office. Kazuto thanked the staff member as they walked off, leaving Kazuto and Masa alone and outside the door of the headmaster's office.

"Masa, when we go in there, just… don't try to say anything too stupid." The boy's uncle whispered to him. "This school's headmaster is real tough one, according to the guys at my workplace."

"It'll be fine, Uncle Kaz! You won't have to worry about me at all." Despite Masa saying this, Kazuto had a look of doubt on his face. "You have really great social skills, so I'll just let you do most of the talking."

"... That might've been the most reasonable thing you've said in a while."

Kazuto took a deep breath and opened the door. The first thing both he and Masa saw was a woman with short brown hair sitting behind a desk and typing away at a computer screen. The woman appeared to be very focused on whatever she was doing on her computer.

"... Miss. Yokoyama, may we come in?" Kazuto asked.

"Hm? Oh yes, please come in and have a seat." The woman was able to pull her attention off of her computer screen and invite the males into her office.

Kazuto and Masa stepped into the woman's office, with Masa being sure to close the door behind him. The two then took their seats right in front of the headmaster, who had continued to type away at her computer. This went on for a couple of minutes, and right as Masa and Kazuto exchanged looks with one another, the headmaster shook her head and turned to the two.

"My apologies, I was typing out an email to the head of the school district regarding some urgent matters." The woman extended her hand out to Kazuto and Masa. "My name is Mina Yokoyama, I'm the Headmaster of Ushinakei high school."

"Um… Oh! Masa Ayumu!" Masa shook the headmaster's hand while making sure to ignore his Uncle's soul-piercing gaze.

"Kazuto Hirata, it's a pleasure to meet you, Yokoyama-san." The man shook her hand.

"Likewise." The headmaster smiled before looking back at her computer screen for a brief moment. "Hirata-san, might I ask what your relation to Ayumu-san is?"

"I'm his Uncle. More specifically, I'm his mother's brother-in-law." Kazuto told the headmaster. "Masa's Aunt, or my wife, is his mother's blood-related sister."

"I see…" The headmaster shook her head. "Is there any reason in particular to why Ayumu-san is in your care, and not his parents? Did something happen for this arrangement to occur?"

"Well, it's a long story that I don't think I can fully get into right now." Kazuto looked over at his nephew, who was preoccupied with looking around the room. "The kid's parents accidentally left him here when they were moving to North America three years ago. It was quite reckless of them to do so, but… ever since then, he's been in the care of me and my wife."

"I'm… really sorry to hear that." Mina's smile turned into a frown, she proceeded to turn to Masa, who didn't seem to be paying attention at all. "Having your parents leave you behind like that must have been hard for you."

"Huh?" Masa's head snapped towards the headmaster. "Oh, um… Yeah, things were pretty bad for a while, and to be honest, they still are…But I'm sure everything will get better, so there's no point in moping about it."

Kazuto could tell that this topic, in particular, was painful for Masa to talk about, even though it didn't seem like it. A few thoughts ran through the man's mind, however, they vanished quickly.

"I'm glad to hear that." Mina then looked back at her computer screen and started to read from it. "Let's see… Your grades were slightly below average, but your final exam grades seem to make up for it. You participated in very few clubs, but that doesn't really matter. Your behavior is… interesting."

Mina looked away from her computer for a moment and looked at the two males that were sitting in front of her. Kazuto was keeping a straight face, but Masa, on the other hand, was slightly shifting around in his seat. It almost seemed as if he was nervous.

"(His records say one thing, but in person, he seems to be completely different.)" The headmaster thought to herself before turning back to her computer screen. "Ayumu-san, during your first year of high school, did you happen to drop out?"

This sentence alone seemed as if it was some sort of trigger for Masa, as he flinched upon hearing the words, "drop out". The Headmaster furrowed her brow upon seeing Masa's response.

"... I wouldn't say he dropped out." Kazuto stepped in. "We had to pull Masa out of school for the year due to some problems he was having with his health. Fortunately, he was a first year at the time and it was at the beginning of the first term, so it didn't hurt that much to pull him out for the year."

"Is that so?" The Headmaster looked almost surprised. "Well, that's certainly a relief. I almost thought that you had some sort of history as a delinquent."

"Trust me, he couldn't harass someone even if he wanted to. He's not threatening in the slightest." Kazuto hit his nephew's back a couple of times.

"Ow! Ow! OW!" Masa said as his Uncle hit his back. "That last one actually really hurt!"

"See? Not threatening in the slightest."

"... I'm glad to hear that." The Headmaster had fully taken her attention off of the computer and onto Masa and Kazuto. "I believe those are all the questions I have for now. If you would just give me one moment to… Ah, here it is."

Mina looked through the compartments in her desk until she had found a slip of paper along with a small light book. The woman took both items out of her desk and handed them to Masa. "The book is somewhat of a rulebook, but it really just gives you advice on how to make the best out of your year here." The headmaster told the boy. "As for that slip of paper, give it to the woman who sits at the desk in front of my office and she'll give you your school uniform as well your homeroom number."

"Oh, thank you so much Yokoyama-sensei!" The white-haired boy happily took the items from his new headmaster.

"Don't mention it. I look forward to seeing how you'll progress with your studies." The headmaster once again shook Masa's and Kazuto's hands. "It was a pleasure meeting you both."

* * *

 **Afternoon** / **Evening**

By the time Kazuto and Masa had gotten back, it was already well into the evening. Unlike the night before where it was completely dark in the neighborhood, lights had now illuminated the streets.

Kazuto and Masa also had to stop by the grocery store, just like they said they were. The two brought in the groceries that they, meaning Kazuto, had bought into the house. Before long, the house was somewhat lively. Yui was cooking, Kazuto was moving furniture around, and Masa was preparing for his first day of school.

"Phew, I'm beat…" After getting everything ready, Masa sat at the edge of his bed and took a look around his room. "I'm pretty sure I've gotten everything I needed for school tomorrow… I wish I got an extra day so I can unpack all my stuff, but I guess that'll have to wait."

The boy grabbed the student "rulebook" that sat on top of a desk that that was now next to his bed instead of a box and started to flip through it. From what the boy was able to gather, the book basically introduced the staff members of the school, the student council, clubs, and much more. Just like what the headmaster had said to Masa earlier, it really wasn't much of a yearbook at all.

The boy put the book back on the desk and looked over at his clock. It was almost 10:00, and the boy would have to wake up early if he wanted to catch the train that took him to school. "Man, I'm going to have to do this almost every day for an entire year." Masa turned off his light and lied down on his bed.

The boy was once again staring at his ceiling, just like how he was the night before. "(Still…)" Masa turned to face the wall. "(That hallucination I had last night felt a lot more… physical than the other ones, I wonder why.)"

The boy thought about the small girl that had appeared in his room the night before. He thought it was odd that he had her sign his name in a book, and found it a little unsettling when she had grabbed his hands the way she did.

"(Oh well.)" The boy shrugged and closed his eyes. "(In the end, it doesn't really matter…)"

The boy let what the girl had told him echo in his mind as he went off to sleep. Even though he had believed it to be some sort of hallucination, the girl's words had felt real.

* * *

 **Chapter Started on: August 9, 2018**

 **Chapter Finished on: August 11, 2018**

 **To Kagaminelover657: Yeah, it's mainly due to me still being in school and having to take all kinds of exams, especially with the holidays approaching. But thank you, I'll be sure to take my time with these chapters.**

 **Well, as you saw from this chapter, Masa is in fact not a student at Shujin Academy, but a student at Ushinakei High School. Shujin is located in Aoyama-Itchome (a neighborhood in Tokyo), while Ushinakei is located near Horikawa (one of the main streets in Kyoto). I'm the same as you when it comes to Japan's cities and districts, I'm not familiar with most of them, but I guess the amount of research I've done kinda helps with that ^_^;.**


	4. Welcome to the Velvet Room

"...y...h..r...e…"

…

…

…

"Ca…. ou… ar… me…"

…

…

…

"Can you hear me?"

"Mmh…"

Masa was slightly responsive to the voice, yet he was still asleep. Despite him just groaning, he showed no signs of waking up at all.

"I am unsure if he's being responsive to my calls, or if this is how he is when he sleeps." The voice sounded almost familiar. "Safie, do you have any ideas?"

"In these types of situations, I would recommend having them move one of their limbs. Just as a way to ensure whether they're really responsive or not." There was another voice along with the first one, it didn't seem to belong to anyone familiar. "Excuse me, but if you are hearing my voice, then might I ask that you raise your arm?"

At first, there didn't seem to be any sort of response from the boy, but after a minute or so, Masa's lifted his arm into the air for a couple of seconds before letting it fall to his side.

"It seems that would answer our question." Whoever the unfamiliar voice belonged to had sighed loudly. "Now would you hurry and take him into the **Velvet Room**? Our time is running short."

"Y-Yes, my apologies…" The person who the familiar voice took a deep breath. "... _Open your eyes._ "

* * *

"... Hm?"

Masa had started to open his eyes, and the moment he did, he almost immediately knew that something was off. One of the first things Masa noticed when he opened his eyes was that there was a lot of blue. Another thing that he had noticed was that the atmosphere was a lot calmer than it was before he had gone off to sleep.

The boy sat up onto his bed. The moment he had done so, his eyes had widened and his mouth flew open.

"Where… Where am I?"

Masa wasn't in his room anymore. The boy quickly scanned his surroundings and one of the things he noticed was a bookshelf that was tall enough to touch the ceiling, and wide enough to barely reach the corners of the walls. He also noticed that on each of his sides were blue armchairs that seemed to be the same color tone as the rest of the room.

Finally, the white-haired boy noticed that he wasn't even lying on an actual bed, but a chaise lounge chair. There didn't appear to be any doors in the room. The boy was all by himself.

"Okay, there's two things I think could've happened." Masa continued looking around the room. "I was either drugged and because of me being drugged, I'm having this really trippy dream… or I was drugged and I got kidnapped and was put into this place. Either way, I think I got drugged somehow."

"Subject believes that he has been drugged by an outside source, and questions the existence of the Velvet Room." Someone spoke. "Interesting, but not surprising."

"Huh?"

Masa's head snapped towards the source of the voice. The boy almost fell off his chair the moment he noticed that there was a person in the room with him. On the left side of him was a girl who sat with her legs crossed and was jotting something down on a large notepad.

This young girl had features that Masa had thought he had seen on a person before. This included the young girl's platinum blonde hair and almost glowing yellow eye color, her paler than normal skin tone, and the color of her outfit.

"Um…" Masa watched the girl write down whatever she was writing on her notepad.

The girl continued to scribble down words onto her notepad for what seemed like minutes. While this was happening, Masa watched her write at an incredible speed.

"... What?" The girl stopped writing and looked at the boy. "You've been sitting there and looking at me for at least 5 minutes, and 32 seconds - 5 minutes, and 33 seconds - 5 minutes, and 34 sec-"

"Wait wait wait! Stop counting! I was just waiting for you to finish writing down whatever you were writing on that notepad." Masa pointed to the young girl's notepad.

"I was writing down everything that you were doing for the last 5 and a half minutes." The girl sounded very monotoned and had an almost dead look in her eyes. "The information that you provided me during that timespan wasn't anything useful, so I'll most likely have to discard it and start anew."

"Um… Sorry-"

"It's fine, I didn't care that much anyway." The girl interrupted Masa as he was apologizing.

There was an awkward silence between the two, however, this was for a reason. Masa tried to think of something to say, and eventually, he realized that he should be asking the girl the question that any sane person would ask in a situation like his own.

* * *

 **A.** " **Can I go back to sleep?"**

 **B.** " **Where am I?"**

 **C.** " **Who are you?"**

* * *

 **Choice A: "Can I go back to sleep?"**

"You're already asleep…" The girl told Masa before proceeding to write something down on her notepad. "Why else would you be here?"

"(... That doesn't really help me at all.)" Masa sighed.

* * *

 **Choice B: "Where am I?"**

"Do I really have to do it…?" The girl seemed to be thinking really hard about answering Masa's question. "Master Igor isn't here to do the whole introduction, and I don't know what's taking Lavenza so long…"

"(Master Igor? Lavenza?)" Masa tilted his head. "(Those are some really weird names if you ask me. They don't sound Japanese at all…)"

"... You'll learn about your current location from someone who is a bit more knowledgeable about this place than I am." The girl told Masa. "I'm not even going to bother trying to explain as you wouldn't understand."

"Um… Okay?" Masa didn't really understand what she meant other than the fact that they're waiting on someone, and that he apparently needed to be _smarter_ if he wanted to find out where he was from this girl.

* * *

 **Choice C: "Who are you?"**

"You can call me Safie." The girl continued jotting things into her notepad. "That's the name I was given by my siblings, so I might as well stick to it."

"Safie… That's a really unique name!" Masa smiled. "My name is-"

"Masa Ayumu." Safie interrupted him once again. "It'd be disappointing on my end if I hadn't already known your name by this point."

"Glad to see that we're on the same page… I guess?" Masa sounded a little unsure as he spoke.

"Likewise," Safie said nonchalantly.

* * *

Masa couldn't think of anything else to ask the girl, and things were once again quiet. The good thing was that he learned that the girl's name is Safie, but unfortunately, he doesn't know much of anything else about the situation he's in.

"I'm terribly sorry for my late arrival." A new voice came from Masa's right. "I tried to locate our master's whereabouts once again, but I, unfortunately, came up empty-handed."

Masa's head snapped to the right this time as he locked eyes with another young girl who had just sat down on the chair to his right.

"Wait…" Masa rubbed his eyes and looked back at the girl just to make sure he wasn't seeing things. "Haven't I seen somewhere before?"

"That is correct." The girl to Masa's right shook her head. "I'm terribly sorry that I couldn't introduce myself sooner. Due to some circumstances that you will eventually learn about, I had to keep my identity hidden."

"Oh… Well, that's okay!" Masa smiled. "I thought you were just a figment of my imagination at first, so it didn't really matter if you introduced yourself to me back then."

"He thought you were a figment of his imagination, "at first"." The two looked over at Safie. "Despite learning very little about what's going on, you choose to believe that everything around you is real?"

"I don't know, maybe?" Masa shrugged.

"... I'm unable to tell whether the subject is extremely gullible, or naive." Safie wrote down on her notepad. "Further observations will be necessary to answer this question."

"Please excuse Safie, Masa. She tends to keep to herself." The girl to Masa's right told him. "Moving on, I believe that there are some questions that you have. I will answer them to the best of my abilities."

"Well, I have 4-"

"He has 3 questions." Safie interrupted the boy midsentence. "He asked me a pointless question beforehand, and I don't think it's worth the time to answer."

Just from how the girl was treating Masa, the boy could already get a feel of what her full personality was like. Even so, he didn't really seem bothered by the way she was acting towards him considering what he was just told about Safie.

"Okay, I have 3 questions." The white-haired boy looked at Safie as he said "3". "Where am I exactly?"

"Ah yes, our Master isn't here to welcome you here." The girl to Masa's right sighed. "Welcome to the Velvet Room. This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter."

"Dream and mind, reality and...huh?" Masa once again tilted his head to show confusion. "You've lost me."

"Dream and reality, mind and matter," Safie repeated the girl's words. "It isn't important if you remember that part or not. You're in a place known as the Velvet Room, that's all that really matters."

"Well, if you say so," Masa said. "My next question is, who are you? I never got your name."

"My name is **Lavenza**. I am one of the residents of the Velvet Room." She had finally introduced herself. "Safie is also a resident here as well."

"If you haven't guessed by now, Lavenza and I are siblings." Safie stopped writing and looked up at her sister and then at Masa. "If I'm going to be honest, she's the only sibling who I can tolerate."

"She's the only sibling that you can tolerate?" Masa repeated. "Are you implying that you have more than one sibling?"

Safie stared at Masa for a full minute and then went back to writing on her notepad.

"I'll… take that as a maybe." Masa slowly turned his head back to Lavenza. "So that was my second question. My third question is, why am I here?"

"I was expecting that to be your last question," Lavenza said. "You are here because you signed a contract. Since you signed that contract, that makes you a guest of the Velvet Room-"

"An unofficial guest that is," Safie muttered. "With our Master gone, he can't really approve of any incoming Wild-"

"Safie!" Lavenza shouted, which caused her sister to go silent. "Please disregard what my sister was saying, it's a bad habit of hers."

"I feel like I shouldn't completely ignore what she said-"

Masa didn't exactly get interrupted like he had multiple times before, but he noticed that Lavenza seemed angry. Since he wasn't entirely sure of what to expect, he thought it would be better if he were to stay quiet.

"Since you are a guest of the Velvet Room, you will soon have to embark on a journey that will only get harder the further you progress," Lavenza said. "However, with strong enough bonds, we're sure you will be able to-"

"*BEEP!* *BEEP!* *BEEP!*"

A loud beeping sound rang throughout the room. It had startled Masa, but both girls were able to keep their composure.

"It seems like we're out of time." Safie sighed and stood up from her chair. "Listen, the day when you will awaken to your true power is approaching fast. When that day comes, you must be ready to overcome the obstacles that stand in your way."

"What do you mean by true power? And what obstacles are you talking about?" Masa asked. "I think I have even more questions than answers at this point!"

"... That's okay." Lavenza stood up from her chair as well. "We will meet again once you acquire your power. Until then, just keep living your life like you normally would."

"Wait, but-"

The white-haired teen felt a strong sense of drowsiness overcome him. The boy's vision started to get blurry. The last thing he had seen before he blacked out was Lavenza and Safie standing next to each other, waving to him.

…

…

…

"It's going to happen again…"

* * *

 **Chapter Started on: August 11, 2018**

 **Chapter Finished on: August 13, 2018**

 **(8/13/2018)**

 **Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed this chapter, it was certainly different than most introductions to the Velvet Room. More information as to why there are two Velvet Room attendants and more importantly why Lavenza is there will be given at a later time.**

 **I wanted to write this Author's note to let people who are reading this know that chapters might start taking a little longer to come out, as I'm going to start making them a little longer (3k words at most).**

 **That's all I really wanted to say though, so I'll hopefully see you all soon!**

* * *

 **(12/12/2018)**

 **And with that, all the chapters that were published onto my alternate account have been published here! From this point on, all the chapters might take a while to come out, not only because they're going to be longer, but I don't really have a lot of free time, and I don't want to burn myself out.**

 **Also, a little side note. If anyone reading this happens to have come from my Hyperdimension Neptunia stories, then I would just like to let you know that I'll be taking a break from them and focusing on this story for a while. Once I make good progress on this story, I'll return to the other ones.**

 **Anyway, that's all I have to say. I'll see you guys next time!**

 **To Kagaminelover657: Although I won't say whether you're right or wrong, you're certainly on the right track. The reason why I say this is because the summary is somewhat inaccurate to what I actually have planned for this story. Like I said though, you're definitely on the right track! I actually wanted to have this story be set in Tokyo, but after enough thinking, I decided against it for a number of reasons that will be obvious as the story progresses.**

 **And thank you! I tried my best to make Masa different from most protagonists, who are usually just blank slates and don't talk often. As you said, it's very clear that he's not hero material at first sight, but he definitely has the right mindset for it (not so sure if his goofy/carefree personality gives him any bonus points though XD).**

* * *

 **Option B: "Where am I?" (NG+)**

"... You'll learn about your current location from someone who is a bit more knowledgeable about this place than I am." The girl told Masa. "I'm not even going to bother trying to explain as you wouldn't understand."

Fortunately for Masa, he was a lot smarter than he looked to be, so he was sure that he wouldn't have a hard time understanding whatever would come out of girl's mouth. "I'm sure that I can handle it, so just go on ahead and tell me!"

The girl looked down at her notepad for a really long time. Masa found it weird that she was taking this long to answer a question that was supposed to be really simple. "What's taking so long? I said that I can handle it."

"... I really don't feel like talking more than I need to." The girl played with her hair with one hand and wrote something down on the nnotepadwith the other. "Sorry, but you're going to have to wait…"

"W-What? Oh come on! That's not fair at al!" Even though Masa was smart enough, it looked like it didn't matter since the girl didn't feel like talking too much.


	5. Day 2 (1 of 2)

**20XX**

4/10

 **Monday**

 **Early Morning**

"* _BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP_ *" A loud, fairly annoying sound came from the alarm clock that sat right on top of Masa's desk. The more the clock had beeped, the louder it had gotten. Masa, who was slightly annoyed by this, lazily rose his hand and reached for the alarm. "* _BEEP BEEP BE-_...*"

The white-haired boy had almost been sleeping with his face buried into the pillow when the alarm clock had started to go off. With Masa being awake (or half awake), he lifted his head off of the pillow and turned it towards his alarm clock. The boy opened his eyes, but only a little just so he could see the time on the clock.

" _6:15"_ Was printed on the clock's LCD in giant red numbers. Masa had set his alarm clock for 6:00 originally, but he was unable to figure out why the alarm had gone off 15 minutes later. Masa sat up in his bed and stretched his arms out while letting a yawn escape from his mouth. The boy's eyes were still half open as he sat on his bed and waited for his body to wake up.

"Don't I have something to do today…?"

The boy's voice was ragged and a tad bit hoarse, showing that he was still tired. Masa's eyes wandered around the room for a bit before they locked onto a uniform that was hanging from his doorknob. This outfit consisted of a white long sleeved dress shirt, and a green and black diamond patterned vest, with the addition of black pants.

"Oh yeah… today's my first day of school…"

Deciding not to waste any more time, Masa finally got out of bed. As he stood up on his feet, something had immediately started to bother him. He was feeling a certain way, and this wasn't something that was new to him, he's felt this way before and because of that, he was able to tell what was wrong.

" _I'm forgetting something important again, aren't I?_ " The boy asked himself. " _All I can remember is that it had something to do with the color_ _ **blue**_ _…"_

Masa was soon lost in his thoughts, trying his hardest to remember the memories he had believed to be missing. It became apparent that the boy had forgotten about his visit to the Velvet Room, and his meeting with Lavenza and Safie.

" _I'm drawing a blank here…_ " The boy quietly sighed. " _Oh well, if it really was important, then I would've remembered it instantly. No use in worrying about something pointless._ "

With that out of the way, the boy started to get ready for school. Although he had found it pointless, Masa still found himself trying to remember the Velvet Room and its inhabitants every now and again. It was slowly starting to bother him.

* * *

Masa—now wearing Ushinakei's school uniform—stood in front of the mirror in his room. This was the first time Masa had put on his school uniform, so he was slightly worried that it would be too big or small—fortunately, that wasn't the case and he fit into his uniform just fine.

" _I never really thought that I would find myself wearing green. I always thought that any other color aside brown looked pretty bad on me._ " Masa was checking himself out in the mirror. _"I guess it's alright to be wrong every now and again._ "

Masa looked over at his alarm clock, which had now read "6:47". Masa remembered that the train that was supposed to take him to Ushinakei was arriving at 7:15, and if he wanted to make it in time, he would have to leave by 7:05.

" _Welp, time's a-wasting! If I don't leave now, there's a chance I won't be able to eat anything at all today."_

Masa grabbed his school bag and made his way to the door. The moment the boy put his hand on the doorknob, he realized that something was missing. The white-haired teenager turned his head and looked directly at his bed. Hanging from the bed frame was a chain necklace that had what looked to be a charm of a butterfly attached to it.

" _... It's only the first day, so things shouldn't be so bad."_ Masa thought to himself turned back to the door. _"Let's just wait and see how things turn out."_

As Masa went down the staircase, he could hear a man's voice that was unfamiliar to him. As he got closer, he could tell that the man's voice was actually coming from a radio.

Once Masa stepped into the main room, he saw his Aunt setting down two plates of food on opposite sides of the table, along with a few utensils. The woman looked at Masa and gave him a warm smile upon seeing him in his school uniform.

"Good morning, Mr. Second Year," Yui said.

"Good morning, Mrs. Detective!" Masa replied. "You know, you didn't have to make breakfast for me, I was just going to-"

"You were just going to do what?" Yui cut Masa off. "Go to the convenience store on the way to the station and buy the crap that they sell there?"

A nervous chuckle escaped from Masa's lips as he smiled sheepishly at his Aunt. The woman crossed her arms and shook her head. "I'll just sit down..."

"Wise choice."

Masa walked over to the table and sat down in one of the chairs, Yui did the same and sat on the opposite side of her nephew. "So, how do you think your first day is going to turn out?" Yui asked.

"Same as how it did back at my old school," Masa replied. "People are going to be giving be me weird looks because of my hair color and heterochromia. I'm pretty sure the only difference is that there are going to be A LOT more people staring.

"Well, that's just how people are. Whenever someone as interesting and unique as you walks into the room, people aren't going to be able to help but look." Yui told Masa. "It's just something that you're going to have to deal with… unless you want to dye your hair and wear colored contacts."

"I'd rather sleep outside in the freezing cold for 3 weeks straight than change my hair and eye color!"

Yui would normally be surprised by Masa's response, but this wasn't the first time he's been asked this question. The last time someone had asked him if he wanted to change his hair and eye color, he had said that he would rather drink a scalding hot cup of tea… and then proceeded to do so and got first degree burns.

"Then you're just going to have to deal with it. Your mother and I had the same problem as you when we were going to school. Fortunately, you have it easier than we did when we were younger."

"I do? What do you mean by that?"

"That's a story for another day." Yui tapped her finger on the table and pointed towards Masa's plate. "Now quiet down and eat your breakfast, otherwise you're going to be late."

* * *

Masa ate his breakfast while Yui drank her coffee and read the newspaper. Meanwhile, the radio was still on and continued to play in the background while the two had done their own thing. No one was paying attention to what was on the radio… at least not until a certain topic had been brought up by the news reporter.

"In other news, the reports of the new phenomenon seem to be skyrocketing with each passing day." The news reporter said. "Scientists have deduced that the victims who have suffered from this new phenomenon share characteristics to that of those who suffered from the mental shutdowns not even two years ago."

Upon hearing, "mental shutdowns", Yui's grip on her coffee mug had tightened for a brief moment. Masa hadn't noticed as he was busy scarfing down his breakfast.

"Many are speculating that the cause of this might be the same as what caused the mental shutdowns, due to their similarities." Said the reporter. "With this in mind, the public believes that the only known cure is if the **Phantom** -"

As Masa had finished his breakfast, Yui got up and turned off the radio before the news reporter could go on about the topic. "Thank you for the meal, Aunt Yui!" Masa got up from his seat and pushed in the chair. "I'll be...off now…?"

Masa looked at his Aunt and noticed that she had seemed a lot more frustrated then she was minutes earlier. The boy didn't know everything about her, but he knew enough to know that this wasn't usually like her.

"Aunt Yui? Is something wrong?" The teen asked.

"I'm… I'm fine, Masa." The woman turned to her nephew and reassured him with a smile. "I just heard something on the radio that I wish I didn't, but it isn't anything bad."

The woman knew that Masa wasn't completely convinced that she was alright, but he never was the type to intrude into other people's personal problems. Yui looked up at the wall clock and read the time.

"Oh, it's 7:07." Yui read.

"WHAT?!" Masa's head snapped towards the clock and read the time, and to his surprise, his Aunt was correct and it really was 7:07. "Aww, crap! I gotta go! Bye, Aunt Yui, I'll see you later!"

Masa grabbed his school bag and ran to the door and quickly slipped on his shoes. The boy then opened the door and dashed out of the house as fast as humanly possible. During all of that, Masa had forgotten to close the door behind him and put his dish in the sink.

After watching that whole event unfold, Yui couldn't help but break out into laughter. The woman couldn't understand why she had found the display so funny, but she decided not to question it. "Oh Masa, from day 1 you were always something else…" The woman smiled.

* * *

Masa sprinted across his neighborhood in an attempt to get the subway station in Nishizawa. On the way, the teenager passed by many people who just so happened to be starting their mornings. Masa also saw a few students on the way to the subway station, but only one or two of them were wearing Ushinakei school uniforms.

The white-haired teenager also passed by a few stores, such as a market, the convenience store he had planned on going to, a few textile shops, and much more. Masa really wanted to explore the neighborhood yesterday, but he didn't have the time to since him and his Uncle had gotten home late.

After 10 minutes of sprinting, the boy had managed to make it to the subway station. The moment Masa had stopped running, he was eventually able to feel his heart beating out of his chest and nearly collapsed onto the floor.

" _I...I MADE IT…!"_ The boy was taking deep breaths. " _I'm...I'm not used to running this fast. Why does it feel like my heart is about to explode? Is this what it's like to run track? Oh, God! "_

It took Masa awhile to notice, but due to his erratic behavior, he was getting looks from people who were also waiting for the train to arrive. By the time he had noticed he was being looked at, the last few people had looked away.

" _Looks like the train hasn't gotten here yet._ " Masa looked around and saw more students mixed in with adults waiting for the train. Just like the students, he saw while on the way to the station, there weren't many who were wearing Ushinakei's school uniform. " _There's not a lot of students here in the Nishizawa district who go to Ushinakei, huh?"_

People were also talking amongst themselves and getting acquainted with one another, meanwhile, Masa was by himself. The boy knew that he could try to go talk to other people, but he preferred to by himself. The boy didn't have the best history when it came to social interaction, and because of this, he's more of an introverted than extroverted.

"... _I wonder if everything is going to be better this time around._ " Masa thought to himself. " _No one has really been giving weird looks yet… but then again, I'm only at the train station. I'm pretty sure most people try their best not to make eye contact with people they don't know._ "

A few minutes had passed, and the train had shown no signs of arriving. Everyone waiting for the train didn't seem bothered by it at all, meanwhile, Masa was checking the time on his phone. " _It's almost 7:30, and this thing still isn't here?_ " Masa looked up from his phone. " _I could've walked to the station instead of running and I'm sure that the train still wouldn't be here!"_

After Masa had thought this, the train pulled up into the station mere moments later. Once the doors had opened, students and adults had begun to flood into and out of the train.

" _Wow! The timing on that wasn't actually half bad!"_ Masa seemed almost surprised. " _If doubting things makes everything come to you a lot faster, then I should do this more often!"_

Masa boarded the train right as the doors were about to close. When the boy stepped onto the train, something had felt… off. The white-haired teenager looked around, as he felt as if there were a pair of eyes following his every move. After some time, the feeling had gone away.

Masa, being carefree as he usually is, thought that it was probably just nothing and decided to move on. Little did he know was that there was actually someone who was watching his every move, and this exact person was standing in the same train car as him.

* * *

"This is it…"

Masa stood at the gates of Ushinakei High school, the place that he would be attending for his 2nd year of high school. The teenager could feel the thousands upon thousands of butterflies flying around in his stomach, and it had almost made him nauseous.

"I'll be here for an entire year, and I can already tell that this is going to be an exciting one." In an attempt to brighten his mood, the boy tried to think positively. "I'm not going to miss school anymore, and I'm definitely not going be alone... I'll make this last year count!"

Masa had now psyched himself up and was pumped for the events that had yet to come. Many students had walked past the boy as he was standing by the gates and were whispering to each other while staring at him for multiple reasons. The main one being that he was talking to himself out loud, which Masa had soon realized and turned a little red from embarrassment.

" _Note to self: Keep all motivational talks to yourself unless you're alone._ "

Once he calmed himself down, the white-haired teenager had begun to make his way into the school with the rest of the students. One thing is for certain, this year would mark a change in not only Masa's life but the lives of many people who he had yet to come across.

* * *

 **The Velvet Room**

Back in the Velvet Room, both Lavenza and Safie seemed to be chatting amongst themselves… Or at least Lavenza was. Safie didn't seem like she was interested in talking, but she still lent an ear.

"I can feel our Master's presence slowly drifting away as time goes on…" Lavenza sighed.

"..." Safie kept quiet.

"The chances of us ever finding him are slowly diminishing, we don't have many options left, unfortunately..."

"..."

"If only we had the help of our siblings, as much as it pains you to hear me say this." Lavenza frowned. "I'm sure that Elizabeth and Margaret would have come up with something by now. I'm not sure how much help Theodore would've been though…"

"..."

"All we have is each other, and-"

"End the sentence right there."

Lavenza was somewhat surprised when Safie spoke so suddenly, but she didn't quite understand what she had meant. "I'm sorry?"

"We have each other. There's no one else here but the two of us." Despite Safie being very monotonous, she sounded a bit annoyed.

"...Safie, why do you-"

"I refuse to acknowledge that… trash as my sibling." Safie was starting to sound a lot more hostile the more she had spoken. "Everything about him is off, from the way how he talks to how he looks. His entire existence just… disgusts me."

"..." It was now Lavenza's turn to stay quiet and listen to what her sister had to say.

"And to make matters even worse, there's a chance that he might've been affected by Yaldabaoth's curse, so we can't even-"

"Safie, I think I've heard enough!" Lavenza shot up from her chair and stomped her foot on the ground. "It's one thing to talk bad about him, but saying that he was taken control of by Yaldabaoth is just ridiculous!"

"..."

"The both of us wouldn't be safe right now if he hadn't found us when he did, Safie. Even if he acts different from the rest of us, he's still our brother!" Said Lavenza. "And even if he were being controlled by Yaldabaoth, he would've gotten rid of us ages ago."

"That's probably just what he wants you to think…" Safie sighed. "Yaldabaoth isn't an idiot, as you experienced first hand. He's cunning, deceiving, and manipulative. There's a high possibility that he's just waiting for when our hope shines the brightest to strike us down. He's done it countless times before, so who's to say that he won't do it again?"

Lavenza was close to reaching her boiling point. Without saying a word to her sister, Lavenza exited the room and slammed the door behind her. Safie, on the other hand, had continued to write on her notepad, only for her to break her writing utensil mere seconds after writing.

"... This is stupid…"

* * *

 _ **Chapter Started On: December 13, 2018**_

 _ **Chapter Finished On: December 18, 2018**_

 **To Kagaminelover657: Yeah, you're right. If Masa didn't really have any sort of flaws at all, he'd probably be an annoying main character.**

 **I can't exactly remember what the connection for the Velvet Room attendants and the protagonist was either, but I do believe that it had something to do with how that protagonist had perceived their heart, as you mentioned. (Elizabeth and Theo both resemble Bellhops, which I guess makes sense for P3MCs since their Velvet Room was an elevator, and Margaret resembles a… flight attendant? Librarian? I'm not 100% sure about her since she's not as obvious as her siblings).**

 **Don't quote me on any of this though!**

 **Actually, you're correct! Masa's Velvet Room is supposed to resemble a Therapist's office, which would mean that Safie, his attendant, is supposed to be a therapist. I'm surprised you were able to figure it out since I don't think I left many clues (then again, the chaise lounge chair was probably a dead giveaway).**


End file.
